Frivolous Litigation
by GimmeBanjo
Summary: Invicta AU: “Hope is not frivolous, not when it’s all you have.” Brennan has been served. Lucky Brennan has two Booths to defend her now. As Kelly steps up to the plate, Booth wonders if her heart is in the right place.
1. Chapter 1

Frivolous Litigation

"Hope is not frivolous, not when it's all you have." Brennan has been served. Lucky Brennan has two Booths to defend her now. As Kelly steps up to the plate, Booth wonders if her heart is in the right place.

_Part of my ongoing Invicta AU. Head on over to my profile and check out the series if you haven't already. Without a little back story, this story seems kind of stupid._

_After a brief hiatus, Kelly is back! Please review if you feel so inclined! I love feedback! Thanks!_

* * *

"His name is Chunky, but Jeremy and I have renamed him Dexter." Kelly gushed as she pulled something out of her brown suit jacket and handed Angela a small picture of a white pit bull puppy.

The two were sitting in Angela's office on the couch. Kelly was on her lunch break and came over to the lab to see if her brother was around. He and Brennan were currently discussing something, rather heatedly by the looks of it, and Kelly had ducked into Angela's office for a little girl time.

"Aw," Angela grinned as she looked at the puppy. "Look at that face! He looks exactly like a Dexter. Those little black markings around his eyes look like reading glasses!"

"I know!" Kelly tucked her legs up under herself.

"This has to be the cutest puppy I've ever seen." Angela sighed and looked up at Kelly. "And the puppy is staying at Jeremy's place?" Kelly nodded. "Like a 'you will be spending all your time over there with the puppy so you might as move in' kind of thing?"

"Like a 'Jeremy already asked me to move in and I just have to break it to Seeley, Rebecca and Parker' kind of thing!" Kelly squealed as quietly as possible, fully aware she was still in a functioning lab.

"Oh Sweetie!" Angela wrapped her arms around Kelly. "I am so excited for you."

"Why are you excited for her?" A strong male voice interrupted the hug. The girls pulled apart and Kelly smiled uncomfortably at her older brother.

"Hi Seeley! I wanted to talk to you!" Kelly jumped off the couch.

"Look!" Angela followed Kelly and quickly shoved the picture towards Booth. "Kelly and Jeremy got a puppy!"

"A puppy?" Brennan walked into the office right behind Booth. "Look at that face!" She smiled as she looked at the picture that Booth was now holding.

"His name is Dexter." Kelly provided.

"A Pit Bull?" Booth eyed the puppy over Brennan's shoulder. "It's not going to eat you, is it?"

"Pit Bulls get a bad rap." Kelly frowned.

"Don't judge the breed, but the deed." Angela reminded, backing up Kelly. "Pit bulls no more so than a poodle."

"Is this what you wanted to talk to me about?" Booth stepped away from Brennan and took a step closer to the door. Kelly shook her head. "Ok, then you have the time it takes for me to get to my car because I've really got to get back to the FBI…" He took another step towards the door and started to turn around. "Bones, I'll call you when I find out."

"Is this what we are now? Passing strangers at the Jeffersonian?" Kelly called out as he trailed after him.

"Losing time, Munchkin." Booth chided over his shoulder.

"Well, fine, if this is the way you want it to be, then I'll tell you as I'm running after-" They were passing through the sliding glass doors as a man wearing a button-up shirt and tie entered the lab that looked vaguely familiar. She stopped dead in her tracks and turned to watch the man stop in front of the platform and look around.

"Kelly. Keep up." Booth stopped walking a few yards ahead of her and turned around in exasperation.

"I think," Kelly squinted her eyes and looked at the man. "I know him."

"Looks like some office dweeb." Booth tugged on her arm. "What was it you wanted to tell me?"

Kelly stood there, gawking at the man as he talked to Angela when she approached him. She pointed to the back of the lab where Brennan was talking to an intern. Angela called out her name and Brennan started over towards the pair. As Brennan approached the man, he held out an envelope with his right hand. As if it were happening in slow-motion, Kelly called out and started running as Brennan reached for the envelope.

"Temperance! Don't touch the-" Kelly arrived beside Brennan right as Brennan's hand sealed itself around the envelope. "Subpoena."

"Subpoena?" Brennan looked at the offensive document. "For what?"

"Dr. Temperance Brennan," The man said tersely. "You are being sued."

"Oh crap." Kelly sighed. Belatedly, the name of the man serving Brennan clicked into her head. "You had to do it today, Rhys."

"I'm just doing what the big man tells me." He shrugged and smiled sadly at Kelly. "Not my favorite part of the job, you know that."

"Yeah, yeah," Kelly started to lead him out of the lab. "Thanks for ruining my day."

"No problem, Kelly." He laughed. "Anytime."

He left the lab and made his way down the corridor. Kelly stood in the doorway, bracing herself for the upcoming assault.

"You knew about this?" Brennan approached her, waiving the envelope in her hand.

"It's sort of my job." Kelly shrugged, knowing the worst was yet to come.

"Bones is being sued?" Booth, who had been standing just outside the doorway, now stalked up to Kelly. "You didn't think it was important to tell her?"

"Let me see," Kelly held out her hand for the subpoena and Brennan handed it to her. After a cursory glance, she sighed and looked up at Booth and Brennan, passing the envelope back to Brennan's waiting hands. "I think it is best we not talk about this here until we are with our counsel."

"Aren't you our counsel?" Booth eyed her angrily.

"Well I have been, but clearly I couldn't keep the dogs at bay, Agent Booth." Kelly snapped back and stormed away towards her office and threw over her shoulder, "You better call your D.A. friend, Caroline. She's going to love this case."


	2. Chapter 2

Booth and Brennan huddled over the summons, sitting around a table in a conference room at the Jeffersonian. Caroline Julian had met up with Kelly to discuss the most practical course of action. The two lawyers had been locked in Kelly's office directly across from the conference room and Brennan had been watching them talk about the case. Caroline had started the impromptu meeting sitting across from Kelly's desk, but had eventually started pacing and rolling her eyes emphatically. Kelly's hand had moved rapidly, obviously explaining in detail what had been happening for the past few months.

After a few minutes of discussion, the two women came into the conference room and Kelly sat herself directly across from Booth and Brennan while Caroline hovered behind Kelly. Booth was amused by the picture they were painting, Kelly sitting there defiantly while Caroline seemed to float behind her; a guardian angel.

"Why exactly is this woman suing me?" Brennan looked up at Kelly and decided that someone needed to get the conversation started

"This is frivolous litigation." Kelly sighed. "They have no chance in winning."

"What is the lawsuit, Kelly?" Booth demanded as he slammed his hand on the table, no longer amused. He was upset that Kelly hadn't bothered to tell Brennan in the first place and he was even more upset that she still wouldn't tell them exactly what was going on.

"It was never supposed to go this far. We're trying to get the judge to hold the other lawyer in contempt." Kelly continued to skirt around the subject. "It's a waste of tax payer's money if this goes to court. I've been working with them for weeks and they've threatened action, but I never thought they'd take it."

"What are they suing her for?" Booth repeated slowly.

"Agent Booth, don't worry your pretty little head about this." Caroline put her hand between the siblings. "If Ms. Booth here says there is no need to worry, there is no need to worry, right Ms. Booth?"

"They're saying you misidentified remains, Temperance." Kelly looked directly at Brennan.

"That's impossible." Brennan looked genuinely shocked at the claim.

"It was a body of a burn victim. The bones were shattered into thousands of pieces." She explained cautiously, knowing Brennan's accuracy was spot-on and not willing to hurt her pride. "They are saying you couldn't have possibly have enough evidence to claim their daughter is dead and they're suing for two million dollars in damages."

"That's ludicrous!" Brennan sat back in shock.

"Which is why I hadn't told you about it." Kelly sighed and looked pleadingly at Booth, knowing he would be, and should be, livid. "We were in talks to get them to drop the accusations. But they are insistent, they know Temperance has a lot of money from her book deals and they aren't going to let this drop."

"Have they found their real daughter?" Booth spat out sarcastically

"No." Kelly shook her head. "They have no real evidence to the contrary, but they say the emotional strain on the family has cost them millions in therapy and trying to search for their real daughter…" She pushed another report closer to them. "It's all in here."

"My findings will hold up in a court of law." Brennan said calmly. "I remember the case. I identified the victim as a 17 to 19 year old female because there is a bone in the ankle that fuses together after that age and her bone was not fused. I passed that information on to the FBI and they were the ones who identified the girl."

"But they're suing you." Kelly reminded softly. "Because you're Dr. Temperance Brennan. A civil suit like this is more likely to settle out of court and I thought they'd stop once they realized they would be taking on the entire government in a ridiculous law suit…"

"So I'm being sued because I am who I am." Brennan looked at Kelly incredulously.

"In a nutshell." Kelly shrugged and cast a quick glance at her brother who was reading the case. "Seeley? You don't have anything to say now?"

"You're going to fight this?" He looked up at Kelly and tried to read her cool, calm exterior.

"There is already a motion in to the judge to dismiss it based on the fact there is no legal merit." Caroline spoke up from behind Kelly. "Agent Booth, Dr. Brennan, if I were you, I'd want this young lawyer on your side. She's got her act together and she's been doing more behind closed doors than any other pencil pusher I've ever seen. She is the front line of defense for protecting you and your precious scientists. If she told you about half the things that come across her desk, those heads of yours would spin right off your little necks."

"I've lined up Dr. Clark Edison to go meet with the judge tomorrow to give his interpretation of the facts." Kelly smiled thanks at Caroline and looked back at Brennan. "It's Judge Early and I've dealt with him before. I'm fairly certain he's going to think the plaintiffs are out of their minds."

"Judge Early doesn't have much patience for idiots, that's for sure." Caroline laughed from behind her.

"This wasn't supposed to get this far." Kelly leaned in and pleaded with Brennan. "I'm really sorry. You were never supposed to know about this."

"No," Brennan shook her head and tried to smile at Kelly. "You did everything you could and I appreciate that. There is no reason to be sorry."

"Can't you file a countersuit? Defamation of character? Bones is never wrong!" Booth continued to defend his partner.

"A countersuit would only make this worse, Seeley!" Kelly tried to reason, "This hasn't gotten out to the press yet, but you can be sure that a countersuit would definitely be stumbled upon and paint Temperance as the evil big-shot writer who is attacking a poor family with a missing daughter!"

"I like her, Booth." Caroline smiled as she sat down next to Kelly. "She's right, too. We make this quietly go away and then you and Dr. Brennan here go back to catching the bad guys."

"Just let me," Kelly paused and looked at her brother. "Let me deal with this. I'll make it better, I promise. This is what _I'm_ good at."

"I trust you, Kelly." Brennan said softly from beside Booth and Kelly's eyes darted towards her.

"As much as you can trust a lawyer." Booth said snidely and from beside her, Kelly felt Caroline sit up.

"Booth," She boomed. "I will not take offense to that and neither will Ms. Booth here."

Caroline gave Booth a look that made him sink into his chair. Kelly almost burst out laughing, remembering a time when a nun had scolded the Booth siblings for talking in church and the look on his face was identical to the one in her memory.

"Look," He said after a moment and choked out the words, "I'm sorry. It's just I wish you had told us about this in the first place."

"It was supposed to go away." Kelly said honestly. "It wasn't supposed to blow up and you can be damned sure I'm doing everything I can."

"I trust you, Kelly." Brennan repeated like a broken record.

"Thank you." Kelly looked directly into Brennan's eyes and thought she saw something there. If Kelly didn't know her better, it would be fear. For a second, she wondered if it really was. Still slightly aggravated, Booth pushed back from the table and stormed out of the room. Kelly jumped a little at his sudden movement, but she looked back at Brennan with all the sincerity she could muster and promised, "I'm going to fix this."


	3. Chapter 3

_Thanks to all who have put this story on alert! I hope you're enjoying it cause I have to admit, I did have fun writing it! Writing Brennan is sort of foreign territory to me, I always feel I don't do her justice, so this chapter is my pathetic attempt at it... I'll apologize in advance. Ha!_

* * *

Brennan sat uncomfortably on a bench outside of the judge's chambers, waiting for someone to come and tell her the results of the inquiry. Kelly, Caroline, Dr. Edison and Booth were all in there, discussing the law suit that Kelly and Caroline kept calling "frivolous".

Unexpectedly, the large, wooden door pushed open and Dr. Edison walked through.

"Dr. Brennan?" He approached cautiously. "I want to let you know that I impartially agree with your findings. The bone fragment was from a 17 to 19 year old female."

"Thank you, Dr. Edison."

"As one of your interns, I would like to say, I don't think I would have ever found it."

"I believe you would have." She smiled and offered him a seat next to her. "Did you have a chance to look at the remainder of the evidence?"

"I did." He motioned a polite decline of the seat. "I concluded in the judge's chambers that there were no other identifying markers. Without access to her DNA, I could not conclude that the victim was Kate Wright."

"Thank you for your honesty, Dr. Edison." She nodded in appreciation.

"As always, Dr. Brennan, it was a pleasure working for you." He smiled as he started down the hallway, leaving Brennan wondering what he had meant by his last statement. To her, it sounded oddly like a good-bye.

He had come to the same conclusion she had. But he admitted that he couldn't conclusively say the victim was Kate Wright, which did not bode well from her. But she hadn't been able to conclude it was Kate Wright either, it was FBI leg-work that had led them to the conclusion. She nervously glanced at her watch. Booth was in there now, on the behalf of the FBI, telling Judge Early the process that they went through, hoping to fight off a law suit.

She waited for long time, sitting on the bench. She had to use the restroom but she was afraid to leave her post in front of the door, knowing the second she left, the judge would rule. She held her back straight and tried not to look at her feet, knowing that if her body conveyed signs of weakness, her spirit would as well. She inwardly laughed at the last thought. Reading body language was something she learned from Booth. Without his partnership, she never would have left the lab.

She was starting to get sentimental when the door swung open. Caroline came out first with a smug grin on her face. Brennan looked behind her frantically, hoping for more of a sign, when she saw the almost identical grins of Kelly and Seeley Booth.

"Good news, Bones!" Booth proclaimed with an animated hand gesture. "You're cleared of all wrong-doing!"

"Your spotless record remains spotless." Kelly nodded excitedly beside him

"And you are not two million dollars poorer." Caroline reminded

Brennan felt her body collapse into itself. A wave of warmth seemed to wash over her as she breathed a breath of relief. She put her head in her hands and felt the bench move as someone rushed to her side, pushing the bench back into the wall.

"Bones." She felt Booth's strong hands on her back and shoulder. "Bones, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Booth." She muttered.

"I need to get back to the Jeffersonian." Kelly spoke up. "Caroline, if you'd like to come with me, we can finish filing all the appropriate paperwork…" She eyed Caroline as the older lawyer pursed her lips together and nodded deliberately.

"Alright, cherie, let's put this whole nonsense behind us." She ushered Kelly down the hall.

"Bones." Booth repeated once the lawyers were down the hall.

"Booth, I'm fine." She assured him again.

"You're not fine."

He sat next to her, not touching but hovering inches away from her body. She could feel the electricity radiating from his body, as if jumping from his arm to her arm, connecting them. Even the slightest shift changed the air around her. She shivered.

"I've never been sued before." She started softly. "I've always seen my work as putting faces to remains. I give them the name and you give them the story. But I never thought beyond that. I never thought what it must be like to have someone who is more of a stranger than anything else, tell you that your family member is dead. When we identified my mother, I was there telling myself that she was dead. I've been able to process the information, I saw the remains. But for that family, all the have to go on is someone's word. Mine. I understand why they were mad. Why they didn't want to believe that their young daughter was dead. To them, to an unscientific mind, all that was left was bone shards." She ended her soliloquy and looked up at Booth. "I've never seen myself as cold and unfeeling before, but now I understand."

"You aren't cold and unfeeling." He protectively put his arm around her shoulder and she rested her head on his shoulder. "What you do, it's noble. In the truest sense of the word, you give the dead their dignity back. It's not your fault that the family could not accept what you do as a gift. But at the same time, the family is not to be blamed."

"I believe that they sued me." She reminded

"They're trying to heal, too." Booth sighed. "Misguided healing, but they're just trying to close a chapter of their lives."

"You understand them." She pulled out of their awkward embrace and looked at him.

"I've done a lot of healing." He laughed uncomfortably.

"When you're healing, do the people who give you the bad news," She started awkwardly. "Do you…"

"Hate them?" He looked forward and clasped his hands together. "Yeah."

"That's irrational."

"That's the grieving process, Bones." He laughed a little. Through all that they've been through, her tentative grasp on the human condition amazed him. He knew it was there, he had experienced it time and time again, but she refused to recognize it. "The Wrights, they're somewhere between anger and bargaining. Normally, a person bargains with God, but bargaining with you…" He shrugged playfully and she punched him lightly on the forearm.

"I am not God, Booth." She laughed. "If there was a God, why was that girl killed in the first place? Why is there pain, evil and injustice? If I were God," She shocked herself by the notion. "I would be out of a job. I am me because I am needed."

"Divine intervention?" He teased and then smiled at her. "You are a great you."

"That family doesn't think so."

"Like you said, Bones, you are you because you're needed. Born out of necessity, you do a true and respectable job. The world isn't perfect, Bones, we both know that, but you make it a little better by being here, by getting up every morning and putting murderers in jail. The Wrights had to have recognized that because they attacked you."

"Culturally, it makes more sense to conquer the person who has the most to lose." Brennan nodded. "The person with the most land, the best crops… All conquered nations lost something."

"You have something to lose, Bones, but I'm not going to let anyone take that away."

"Thank you." She murmured as she rested her head on his shoulder.

As if it were second nature, Booth put a comforting arm around her shoulder. She felt herself melt into his side as she put her head against his chest. The position was intimate, yet there they were, in public on display for the world. The feeling was familiar to them both. Booth inhaled the scent of her shampoo as Brennan felt comforted by the familiar scent of Booth.

They sat in a comfortable quiet for a few minutes, simply using each other's strength as a barrier to keep out the world. In the middle of a bustling hallway in the court house, they sat alone and uninterrupted.

"Thank you." Brennan repeated softly after a minute.

"For what?" Booth shifted his head, trying to get a better look at Brennan, but he couldn't see her smug smile and the far-away gaze in her eyes when she thought of something Kelly had said once. It had been Brennan's first real conversation with Kelly as Kelly was lying in a hospital bed after being shot. Murder and attempted murder was a horrible way to bring Kelly Booth into their lives, but Brennan was secretly glad that it happened. Now, it seemed so long ago, but Brennan still remembered the feeling she felt when Kelly had said it. Sometimes, people just need to be held together.

"For holding _me_ together." She said softly and made a conscious decision to not move out of Booth's arms for as long as possible.


	4. Chapter 4

Kelly opened up the tailgate of her Forrester and out jumped a small, squirming white ball of energy into the parking lot.

"Dexter." She called sternly and the puppy stopped dead in his tracks and turned back around, looking hopefully at his mother. "Wait." She commanded as she reached for the leash that was trailing behind him.

She closed her tailgate and locked the car as she led him towards the grass. Across the park, she heard a small voice.

"Aunt Kelly!" Parker called excitedly "You got a puppy!"

Both Kelly and Booth laughed, sharing the secret that they had planned to surprise Parker.

"What's his name?" Parker appeared suddenly in front of her, kneeling on the grass and intertwining himself with the puppy.

"Dexter." Kelly informed him with a smile, giving the puppy some slack on his leash so that he could run around Parker.

"Dad? Can we get a puppy?" He looked up excitedly

"Park, we've talked about that." Booth frowned a little. Kelly smiled sympathetically, knowing that if it was within her brother's power, he would do anything for his son.

"You can share him with me and Jeremy, Parker." She looked back at Parker and he nodded his head frantically. "I mean, you are his cousin, right?"

"You can call me Cousin Parker, Dexter." He refocused his attention on the puppy

"He looks like a good dog, Kelly." Booth conceded slowly.

"He will be after we finish obedience school." She laughed. "We're getting there. Hey, Parker." He looked up with a grin. "You can't take him off the leash and you have to hold on extra tight, but why don't you take him for a little run and play with him?"

"Can I?" He stood up and Kelly nodded, handing him the leash.

"He likes to escape, so hold on tight." She reminded as the pair took off running.

Silently Booth and Kelly made their way to a nearby bench, one that overlooked the entire park. Kelly bit her lip as they simultaneously sank onto it. They hadn't really had a chance to talk since Booth had testified for the judge and she wasn't really sure how to talk about what had happened. She didn't know if he was still mad at her for withholding information, she wasn't sure if he was alright with how she had handled it. For some reason, her brother's approval meant more to her than having the case dismissed, it meant more than winning.

"How is Temperance holding up?" She asked after a moment of watching Parker and Dexter run across the park.

"She's holding." He shrugged and felt compelled to explain, "At first, she viewed her work as scientific. When we started working together, it became a story. Names and faces and finding justice. Now, she's trying to grasp the idea that maybe sometimes, we're the bad guys."

"You two are heroes." Kelly insisted.

"To that family, we were the bad guys." Booth sighed. "How did you get the judge to dismiss the case?"

"We asked to have it ruled as frivolous litigation." She thought to explain, but bit the inside of her cheek, knowing he wouldn't care about the details.

"See, to Bones and that family, it wasn't frivolous. She's never been in a position where she's had to defend her science, to preserve her good name. She's never been told that what she does hurts people."

He still hadn't looked at her. He was looking distantly, his eyes not focused on any one thing in particular, but taking in his surroundings: watching.

"But she's-" Kelly shook her head

"And that family." Booth ignored her. "This wasn't frivolous to them, either. They were fighting to find their daughter. And if my memory is correct, it was their only daughter. They were fighting so they wouldn't have to give up. The most difficult thing a family ever has to do is give up hope. "

Kelly looked at her brother in silence. His attention was still focused off in the distance. To their right, she heard Parker calling after the puppy and laughing. Kelly watched Booth's strong profile for a moment. His breathing was even, but his Adam's Apple bobbed up and down nervously.

"Hope is not frivolous, Kelly. Not when it's all you have." He whispered

"Seeley, I'm sorry, I didn't know-" She thought about reaching for his hand, but held back, not knowing how to respond to him.

"No," He shook his head and looked at her for the first time, his eyes still cold and secretive. "You did a good thing. That lawsuit was a waste of time, but next time, think about both sides. Think about the people that you're helping and the ones that might be hurting. You can't be a shark and attack everything that swims by you, like you always do. Who are you protecting? Me? Bones? Your job? Think about that next time."

"I can tell you've done this before." She said in monotone and Booth chuckled, surprising them both.

"A time or two, yeah." He looked around, looking for his son. Once he had his sight on Parker, he seemed to relax.

"I was only thinking about you and Bones." She sighed apologetically.

"So was I." He turned his head and looked at her and she could see his eyes twinkling again. "I didn't say I was perfect."

"You're a piece of work." Kelly laughed as she scanned the park for her nephew and dog. They were playing over by the tennis courts and she couldn't help but smile.

"Caroline wants you to be her assistant." Booth said, following her gaze then focused back on Kelly. "She was really impressed with how you handled the lawsuit."

"I thought I wasn't supposed to be a shark." Kelly eyed him nervously.

"You have to fight, Kelly. There's no doubt in my mind that you have the fight part down, but you also have to know when to step back." He provided his little bit of wisdom and they both turned their heads and looked away.

"I'm not really happy at the Jeffersonian." She said after a minute.

"I know."

"You know?"

"But I'm happy you're still there."

"I don't have anywhere else to go!" She burst, almost in hysterics but calmed herself down with a deep breath. "I'm never going to be a criminal defense attorney ever again and they way the economy is going, no one is going to be hiring for a very long time, so I just have to suck it up and hate my job and do what I can." She looked at her brother and their eyes connected in unspoken understanding. "That case, that hour in judges chambers, that's the most fun I've had in a long time."

"You'll get it back." He tried to reassure her, but she shook her head

"Says who? How do you know that I'm not going to be stuck behind a desk for the rest of my life?"

"Your boss is old, who knows, maybe he'll die and then you can just work your way up the chain of command." He grinned playfully

"That's a morbid thought." She couldn't help but smile back. "And not very promising. People are living longer these days, sadly."

"You'll figure it out." He leaned back into the bench and crossed his arms over his chest. "You always find a way to have your hand in all of the pots."

"Meaning I'm nosy." She eyed him suspiciously

"Meaning you'll find a way to work it out." He shrugged

They sat in silence, watching as Parker ran around a tree in the opposite direction that Dexter was running as the leash wrapped around the tree, leaving the dog confused as to why he couldn't run any more and Parker laughing hysterically.

"Speaking of having my hands in all the pots," Kelly said after a minute, "I'm moving in with Jeremy."

"Have you told Rebecca?" He asked in an automatic response.

"Yeah. She's actually helping me pack." She nodded. She had told Rebecca right after the case had been dismissed. Rebecca had responded just as Kelly thought she would, she was excited but she admitted she would miss having Kelly around, as would Parker. Kelly frowned. She still hadn't told Parker and she didn't know how to, but she hoped that Dexter would help sweeten the deal.

"If you need my help, let me know." He nodded

"You're not going to get all defensive about this?" She turned and looked at him with surprise and he chuckled.

"Why should I? I trust you, I trust Jeremy. I saw you wrap that judge around your little pinky then tell him exactly how you wanted the case handled, remember? I just hope Jeremy knows what he's getting into." He shrugged "I actually feel a little sorry for him."

"You're a jerk." Kelly laughed as she stood up. "Hey Park! I've got to go!" She called and the boy and dog both perked up at the sound of her voice. Booth couldn't help but laugh at the identical expressions. "Come on, Dexter!" She called to the dog and they both came running. She took the leash from Parker with a quick thanks, then turned around to head to her car. "I'll see you later, Seeley."

"Kelly," He stood up from the bench and crossed to her. "Thank you for helping Bones."

"Whether I like it or not, that's my job."

"You did more than what your job calls for, Kelly. That's why I'm thanking you. Not because it was your job, but because you're good at it. You're good at being a friend, you're good at being someone who we can rely on. That's why I'm thanking you. Because you're you."

"Well if you put it that way." Kelly playfully tapped his upper arm. "I'd give you a business card so that you can contact me next time you need a shark for a lawyer, but I'm fresh out."

"I know where to find you." He smiled and she laughed, walking away with the little white puppy happily trailing after her.

"You know," She called back over her shoulder. "It would be really great if one of you two could murder someone, that way I could actually have fun in court."

"I'll work on it." He shouted after her, laughing.

_**..fin..**_


End file.
